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Bucs Betting On WR Bradley

Posted Mar 5, 2010 by Roy Cummings

Updated Mar 5, 2010 at 01:49 AM

By ROY CUMMINGS
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TAMPA – The Bucs made a move Thursday that have gone largely unnoticed by the football masses but has the potential to pay some huge dividends.

The move involved tough-luck wide receiver Mark Bradley, who was tendered a contract that would force any team trying to sign Bradley to give the Bucs a second-round draft pick should a deal get done.

Given Bradley’s history – he’s twice been sidelined by knee injuries and missed a chunk of the 2008 season because of a calf problem – it’s unlikely anyone will give up that high a pick for him.

That means Bradley will more than likely go to camp with the Bucs, and if he can stay healthy there and during the season he has the potential to be part of the solution at wide receiver.

At 6-foot-1 and 201 pounds, Bradley has good size for a receiver, strong hands and he still has the speed necessary to separate himself from defenders and break free after the catch.

Those were the traits that made him one of the more highly touted prospects in the 2005 draft, and at the age of 28 the Bucs are betting he still has some good football in him.

Like defensive linemen Tim Crowder and Michael Bennett and safety Corey Lynch, Bradley is one of those guys the Bucs picked up off the scrap heap a year ago in the hope that he’d provide them with some depth in 2010.

Bucs coach Raheem Morris has referred to those players as “our free agents,’’ and while none of those players are star caliber, every one of them is hungry for a chance to prove he can play in this league.

That’s not necessarily what you want in your free agents, but Antonio Bryant, Chris Hovan and Ike Hilliard are just a few of the free agents who came to the Bucs with the same kind of hunger, and every one of them worked out.

Maybe one or two from this group will work out in much the same way.